It is known to provide tables which can be stowed and deployed in vehicles, and which are generally located on a seat of the vehicle, in front of a prospective user. Such seats can be found in many different types of vehicle, such as automobiles, trains and aircraft, where a stowable and deployable seat is mounted in the rear of a seat in front of the user. In the stowed position the table is aligned flush with the back of the seat, or located in a recess in the back of the seat, so as not to protrude into the leg or lap space of a user, and to give maximum room for the occupant sitting behind the table. When a user desires to utilise the table, the table can be rotated such that it is in a deployed position, lying in a generally horizontal position above the user's legs and lap, and can then be stowed again when not in use, by rotating the table back to the stowed position. There are two generally known mechanisms for enabling rotation of such tables, a simple mechanical rotation, which requires manipulation by a user, and automatic, electrically driven rotation, which requires no manipulation of the table itself by a user. In mechanically driven systems, a user must manipulate an edge of the table, and pull the table towards himself or herself in order to rotate the table from the stowed position to the deployed position, and vice versa back to the stowed position. Manipulation of the table edge can be quite difficult for certain users, and mechanically rotatable tables tend to suffer from the fact that it is very difficult to adjust the position of the table. Many mechanically rotatable tables have only two positions, the stowed position and a specified deployed position, whereas others may include a ratchet mechanism which allows one of a limited number of deployed positions. Such mechanisms do not allow optimal adjustment of the position of the table by a user for different seat positions and user seating positions.
In the case of electrically driven rotation systems, the user does not generally have to manipulate the table in order to rotate the table between the stowed and deployed positions, and merely has to press a button or switch in order to do so. This alleviates some of the problems faced by users who find manipulation of a table edge difficult, but does not alleviate the problem of the table having only a single or limited number of deployment positions. Many electrically driven stowing and deployment systems also suffer from a number of problems inherent to electrical drive systems, such as unacceptable noise created by the gearing mechanism powered by the electric drive. The gearing mechanism also tends to create unacceptable visual anomalies, such as juddering or vibration of the table as the gear rotates and effects movement of the table between positions. Finally, known systems of mechanical or electrically driven rotatable tables tend to suffer from poor performance under abuse loading of the table, if an excessive load in placed on the table, or if a user inadvertently bears down on the table.
Embodiments of the present invention have been made in consideration of these problems, with a view to mitigating or alleviating them.